


Everything's Back To Normal

by SJMW_Fangirl



Series: Shiro Is Gone [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Black Paladin Keith (Voltron), Blood, Depression, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Intrusive Thoughts, Keith feels, Mostly Hurt in this one, Sad Keith (Voltron), Self-Harm, Suicidal Tendencies, Suicidal Thoughts, Team as Family, Touch-Starved Keith (Voltron), injuries, kangst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 16:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16579706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SJMW_Fangirl/pseuds/SJMW_Fangirl
Summary: Shiro comes back, but is everything really back to the way it was?





	Everything's Back To Normal

**Author's Note:**

> So, new story of the series, yay! As usual I will be giving Trigger Warnings at the beginning of each chapter and if I have a descriptive cutting scene I'll let you know where it starts so if you want you can skip over it. The warning for this chapter is only mentioned self-harm. So please, enjoy the story!

     One month and three days since Keith broke his promise. A total of twenty-four new cuts littering Keith’s wrist. Some were now scabbed over, others slowly fading into what Keith knew would be some long-lasting scars, still others were raw and fresh, quick to bleed if Keith wasn’t careful. He bandaged them up, the Altean bandages he’d found were very durable, able to withstand the minor bleeding easily. 

     Keith always wore his jacket now, the long sleeves hiding the tell-tale bandages. He was super careful to ensure the others would never see them. If he wasn’t in his armor he wore the jacket, he refused any invitations to the pool from Lance, he even made sure to keep his arms down as much as possible so the jacket sleeves couldn’t ride up and let the medical dressings peeks through.

     But even with the relief cutting gave him from his thoughts, Keith was still struggling to lead the team. He was getting better at planning, making sure he listened to Allura or Lance before making any major decisions. Lance was surprisingly smart at strategies and dividing the responsibility evenly on the paladins.

     But while Keith was good at supporting his team physically, using his bayard sword and his honed fighting skills, he failing at supporting his team emotionally. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d seen Pidge crying silently as another supposed lead to her family died out. But he could count the number of times he’d tried to comfort her. Zero. He just couldn’t bring himself to encourage her when he could hardly convince himself not to lose hope on Shiro.

     And there had been many times he’d find Hunk stress baking in the kitchen. But even that didn’t always help as he’d be unable to cook something right with the unfamiliar ingredients and get even more frustrated. There had been one time Keith had tried to say something, but his stammered attempt had only gained him the dirtiest look he’d ever been given by Hunk.

     Allura was suffering as well, trying to find the strength to fight while being pulled in so many directions by the search for the Holts, Shiro, and the multiple distress signals they’d been receiving at a steady stream. With Zarkon gone it seemed that the Galra Empire was lashing out at the universe for the loss of their leader. But Keith couldn’t help her in choosing missions, as he was biased to choosing Shiro every time, even if the lead was so minuscule they had to follow it holding a magnifying glass to the ground.

     Even Coran, the ever quirky and cheerful adviser and mechanic seemed more subdued than usual. They were taking more hits in the field, the Galra forces only getting more and more ruthless, meaning there were more repairs for Coran to tend to. Keith was sure he must have been exhausted.

     Then of course there was Lance. Lance was doing his best to keep everyone happy, he’d taste test for Hunk and drag Pidge to bed, find some way to comfort them, he’d tell a joke or two to Allura, maybe flirt with her just to help her loosen up a bit. He’d help Coran with the cleaning and let the Altean tell him stories about the days of Yore. But Lance was barely holding it together himself. He missed his family, he missed Earth, Shiro… There were a lot of things he missed. More than once Keith had caught Lance crying up on the bridge with the star map twinkling above him, Earth front and center.

     And still Keith did nothing. He holed himself up in his room after any such encounter where one of the other paladins had needed comfort and he didn’t know how to give it.

     Shiro would know what to do. He had a knack for helping Allura relax and step back for a moment. The universe wouldn’t crumble if she took a break now and then for her own sake and that of the team. He would commend Lance on how well he was doing and how proud Lance’s family would be when he got home. Shiro would praise Hunk’s culinary skills while simultaneously guiding him out of the kitchen to get some well needed rest. With Pidge he always had a positive word, quite often a quote from Commander Holt that would brighten her mood and encourage her.

     Then Shiro would help Keith too. He’d know right away something was wrong and discover the cuts. Then he’d give Keith one of the biggest, best hugs, the kind no one but his brother could give. Of course after that he’d sit Keith down and have a long discussion that Keith would not enjoy. But Shiro would be back, so he’d have no reason to cut anyway. He’d quit, Shiro would make sure of that, but with Shiro back Keith wouldn’t care.

     But the truth of the matter was that Shiro wasn’t there and Keith was starting to think that maybe this time he’d lost Shiro for good.

***************

     Keith settled in the cockpit of the Black Lion, grabbing the steering handles as the dashboard lit up. “Everyone set?” He asked as he left the hangar, getting a variety of affirmative answers from his fellow paladins.

     They’d received a distress call from a nearby planet that the Galra had just invaded. A few of the planets population had been able to escape and get a badly garbled distress call out. They had thankfully been in the vicinity of the small planet and the Galra forces on the planet were scarce, only a few ships patrolling around the city the Galra were setting up shop in.

     “Alright, you all know the plan. Pidge and Allura, you’re in charge of salvaging any information you can from their computers. Lance, you’re covering them while Hunk and I free the prisoners. Their forces here seem pretty basic, consisting mostly of sentries and drones, but don’t let your guard down.”

     “Roger that, Keith. We’ll stay on our toes.” Lance said, looking over at the Black Lion from where he was flying Red beside him.

     “What do our toes have to do with anything?” Allura asked curiously, always looking to learn more about phrases from Earth.

     Coran’s voice piped up on the comms then. “Oh! Lance told me this one! It’s like keeping your eyes open, staying alert! Like a boxer stays on his toes so he can dodge punches quickly!”

     Allura’s voice came over once more, sounding horrified. “Why would a boxer need to dodge punches? What kind of monster would hit their pet?”

     Keith furrowed his eyebrows at that before Pidge was cackling on her end of the line. “Wrong boxer, Allura. Not like the type of dog my family had, this is an athletic fighter on Earth.”

     Lance and Hunk both chuckled on their ends, Keith’s own lips turning up in a small smile at the short moment of levity, something that had become much harder to come by. Allura sighed, greatly relieved that the cute animals Pidge had shown her a picture of on her phone weren’t being hurt by their owners.

     The conversation died out as they drew nearer to the planet’s surface. They could make out the six or seven ships patrolling above the city and the surrounding area. There was a large building in the center of the town, an extension being added on to the side, only half done. Sentries were overseeing the construction, performed by captive citizens of the planet. The streets of the city were empty aside from the drones marching through them, no doubt making sure the citizens stayed inside their homes.

     Keith’s jaw tightened. “Okay, we’ll free everyone from the compound first before we take care of the rest of the city. Let’s take these ships out first, make sure the debris doesn’t crash in the city and be careful of those construction workers!”

     “According to my scans there’s an uninhabited area south of the city, try to lead the ships in that direction.” Hunk reported, speeding his lion up, eager to help the poor people of the planet.

     Keith nodded. “Alright, guys. You heard Hunk, lure the ships away from the city.” He said, hands tightening on the controls, a small determined furrow settling between his eyebrows. There was no way they were letting the Galra enslave this planet. _This is for taking Shiro from me._

     Keith’s battle cry filled the air as he rushed at a fighter jet, narrowly missing it and gaining the jet’s attention as it came after him.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is still very much in the works so if anyone has any suggestions feel free to let me know! :D


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